Emperor of Zero - Side stories
by Nietzchian
Summary: Side stories related to the Emperor of Zero universe, may include alternate histories and things not really related to the Not required reading for the main story, Emperor of


OOC:

I'm back.

There's not much that really should be said. I was out for a while for a variety of reasons which I won't bore you with, and now I'm not.

However, since it's been a while since I've written fiction, I didn't think it was a good move to jump directly into the next chapter of Emperor of Zero. I wrote this more or less as a warm-up, is canon to the actual story. I intend to make this a place for short stories for creativity's sake which are related to EoZ's universe. You won't need to read this at all to understand anything about EoZ, but it can help.

Anyways, that's all. I'd like to apologize for making it a while, but I'm restarting my work on the next chapter.

* * *

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The young man struggled on his knees, vomiting blood all the while.

_W-where….am I? What happened? I….I was walking and….there was that thing and-_

"Argghhhh…ahhh.."

He screamed again and spat out more blood. It was bad. Very bad. He had been out on his free day. On the streets, having picked up the latest magazine in the middle of the day. And then it had turned dark. All of a sudden he had been swallowed by some unavoidable blackness which had grabbed him off the streets before he could even breathe.

It was still dark, but not as dark as that horrible blackness. It was cold. Somehow, the man could tell, he was underground. But how was that possible? He had just been, not 30 seconds ago, wandering on the streets. It was a warm sunny day, he was enjoying himself and-

"BLECH"

His legs completely gave way, and he vomited more blood. He tried to raise his hand to cover his mouth, but his arm did not respond. It was almost as if it had been cut off.

No, he realized as he craned his head as little as he could move it, his arms were there. Both of them. They just refused to move as he lay there, bleeding uncontrollably from his mouth. And now that he realized it, a portion of his chest on the right side was missing as well. It was as if the blackness which had swallowed had taken a bite out of him there, a bite which caused him to lie in a pool of his own blood.

_Tap. Tap. Tap._

The young man heard a sound. Something…hitting the floor. A few moments later, he could feel someone's presence standing above him. Another man, it seemed. But drained and weak as he was, he could only tilt his head slightly, not enough to see anything else about him.

"Hmmmmm. Well, he is alive, at least, for now. So it is not a complete failure."

The person walked forward, and then the man felt a rod of some kind push him around onto his back. He groaned in pain from the impact. Even on his back, the other person was standing just outside his vision. He could see that he was wearing robes of some kind, but nothing more.

"You're missing a lung." He heard the voice speak. "Parts of your spine, perhaps. Definitely your stomach, that's why you're coughing up like that."

The man tried to open his mouth, to ask so many questions. What had happened to him, where he was, who was speaking to him. But all he did was cough up another mouthful of blood. It spattered on the person's robes, but whoever it was did not react to that at all.

"A pity. Perhaps if Touraine was around, he could heal this, but this is well beyond my meager capacities. I shall have to try again at a later date, when I am not preoccupied with other matters."

The person leaned forward and began to prod the man again. The man tried to protest and swat the cane away, but his arms still refused to move, and the blood leaking out of his mouth kept him from speaking. He finally gave up and let the stranger do as he pleased.

"Hm?"

There was brief flash of light on the man's left hand. The person jumped onto one knee and grasped it. Even though he couldn't see the person's face, the man could feel how intensely he was staring at his left hand.

"It was only for a second…" he heard. "But it happened again, even though it should be impossible. There's already another who has those, but the signs, they're not without precedent. The man with the green hair, that other one with the golden eyes…there's been a few people who have had that marking as well."

The person stood up and began muttering to himself. The man slowly, managed to turn his left wrist around and look at it. He could see nothing on it. But even so, the person above him continued to mumble.

"Blast it!" he finally grumbled. "There has to be a pattern behind it. Most of them are already dead when they arrive. But a few manage to live, though they end up dying soon. And then a few of those who manage to live have that mark. Why can they have it? And what is the secret I'm missing?"

The person turned around and began to limp off. The man couldn't believe it. This person was clearly the reason why he was in this state, barely able to move and bleeding everywhere. Was he going to abandon him like this? To die? This couldn't happen, this couldn't happen to him, this couldn't happen to him!

"Help!"

It was a short yelp, all the young man could say before the inflow of blood once again prevented him from talking. But it had caught the person's attention. He looked back at the young man.

"Help, you say?"

He made no move to actually do so, but at the same time he did not turn away. The person just stood there for several moments more, before he finally spoke up.

"I cannot save your life, boy, if that is what you are asking for. Your injuries are too grievous. It would require a truly great Water mage to save your life, and even if there was one nearby, there is no way I would let a mage in here anyways. It would not be in my best interests."

_Water mage?_ The man thought. _What are you talking about? Just get an ambulance! And call my mother, she needs to know-_

"But I can help you, boy. I can grant your death, and thus your life, meaning, a far better end than leaving you to bleed out your last moments in this world, not even knowing where you are. To die with purpose. It is something which so many people in this world have sought their entire lives and failed to achieve. Be honored."

_Tap tap. Tap tap. Tap._

He hit the floor with the rod he had been poking the man with. The sounds echoed to form a pattern in the room.

"Feed."

Nothing happened for a moment. Then the man heard a sound.

THUD

Of something…incredibly huge. It sounded like an elephant walking. Panicking, the man turned his head towards the direction of the sound…

And didn't even have time to try to scream.

The last thing the man saw was a streak of white as it dashed towards him.

The last thing the man felt was its teeth sinking into the back of his neck.

* * *

Munch munch.

Crunch crunch.

Gobble gobble.

Gulp.


End file.
